CRAWFORD, Texas -- U.S. President George Bush Monday brushed aside criticisms from former President Jimmy Carter over his Iraq policy.

Carter called the current Bush administration "the worst in history" in a weekend interview with the Arkansas Democrat.

"I get criticized a lot from different quarters and that's just part of what happens when you're president," Bush said during an appearance at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, adding he will "continue to make decisions that I think are necessary to protect the American people from harm."

Carter, in New Orleans to build a Habitat for Humanity house, backed off his earlier comments, telling NBC's "Today" show they were "careless" and "misinterpreted."

"What I was actually doing was responding to a question about foreign policy between Richard Nixon and this administration. I think this administration's foreign policy compared to President Nixon's was much worse," Carter said on "Today."

Carter recently told BBC Radio "The almost undeviating support by Great Britain for the ill-advised policies of President Bush in Iraq has been a major tragedy for the world."